Sandy Hook - 5 Years Later

It's been five years since we were all shocked as a nation to learn of the Sandy Hook massacre. In memory of those lives lost, I'd like to invite you to revisit the blog posts from my colleagues from four years ago, when we wrote about every angel that gained their wings on December 14, 2012.

Bless each of their families, and guide our lawmakers to make demonstrative changes to gun laws, increasing violence, hatred, and mental healthcare.

-Mike

From December 14th, 2013, on the One Year anniversary...

Last December, after the events at Sandy Hook Elementary, I stumbled upon the Facebook page that Ana Marquez-Greene’s parents had set up for her. I followed the page and spent the last year getting to know Ana through the eyes of her parents. I knew that I wanted to commemorate the day with a blog post that celebrated the life of this angel. I’ve been preparing to write that post for months.

A few weeks ago, I thought it would be a good idea to create a blogging event that celebrated all of the children and adults from Sandy Hook Elementary and I invited the help of my colleagues here on ASCD Edge to help me. Between the support that I got here and additional support from teachers around the country, as well as a couple of other outlets that blogged in recent days, we were able to cover every child and adult from the school.

I’ve been moved to tears by each of my colleagues here that submitted blogs and I thank them so much for their contributions. It’s extremely important that we remember these new angels and continue to celebrate the lives they lived and the impacts that they had.

We must remember them all.

What follows are the blog posts from our ASCD EDge community, as well as some additional blog posts that were recently posted in loving memory of these wonderful humans.

Another entry for our Sandy Hook Remembrance Blogtacular was submitted by Tom Adams, principal of Newfane Middle School in Western NY on his school’s blog. His thoughtful post, entitled Heroism - From Unspeakable Tragedy to Inexplicable Hope, is a tribute to all of the students and staff and reminder that teachers are heroes everyday.

Additionally, the families of the Sandy Hook students and staff have created their own remembrance website, which I encourage you to visit: My Sandy Hook Family

Several years ago, the singer Jewel wrote a song called “Hands.” I first heard the song at an assembly for Rachel Scott, one of the victims of the Columbine shooting. During the presentation, we learned that Rachel had drawn her hands on the back of her dresser with a note that said, “These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and someday will touch millions of people’s hearts.”

Today, as I reflect on the last year, the lyrics to the song are especially poignant, in particular this beginning stanza:

If I could tell the world just one thing

It would be that we’re all okay

And not to worry ‘cause worry is wasteful

And useless in times like these.

What we need to do now is remember. We need to keep these lights alive forever. We have to continue to be vigilant for our children and our schools.

I encourage you all to read the blog posts that are contained here. These wonderful colleagues have captured the essence of the students and staff at Sandy Hook and have done their parts to keep these lights shining brightly.

I’d like to say one more time how much I appreciate them giving their time and talent to this project and I am humbled by their eloquent words.

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